


Young Man

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Gen, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Period-Typical Sexism, Time Travel, Trans Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24899761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Natasha gets thrown through a portal, and ends up somewhere a lot like the past. Bucky looks a lot different than she’s used to, but she gives him some pointers, just in case.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32
Collections: Natasha Bingo





	Young Man

**Author's Note:**

> For Natasha Romanov Bingo: B2-Time Travel

Natasha hated that getting sent through a portal to god only knows where was part of a normal week with the Avengers. Doctor Strange did portals, but most of the time he wasn't working with the Avengers and he only brought himself through-- Natasha had let him know in no uncertain terms that she never wanted to go through one of his damn portals. There were a few other heroes that did the portal shtick, but most of the Avengers experiences with it had been because of villains. 

Like right now. There had been a portal in Central Park, and they were tossing things through. She was the first person to get tossed in-- those energy weapons they were toting packed one hell of a punch-- and she half expected to die on impact. The afterlife-- if there was one-- sure as fuck wasn't going to be a dirty New York street. 

Natasha glanced behind her automatically to see if the portal was still open, but all there was behind her was a brick wall. She prodded at it with her hand anyways, just in case. Nothing. She tucked her guns away, slid inside the closest clothing store and lifted a jacket. It wasn't fashionable, but it was big enough to cover the Widow Bites at her wrists and the weapons strapped to her hips. 

It wasn't hard to find out this wasn't the Earth she'd just seen. Dimension travel was a pain in the ass. She'd try to find Richards if she could, because otherwise, she'd have to wait for the battle over there to finish before they could start trying to find her. Waiting wasn't always bad, but some universes had time move a little differently. She could spend a year here before they battle finished, and she wasn't going to do that unless she had no other options. If there was one thing she learned in the ever expanding superhero team, it was that she could trust them, but she couldn't wait around for them. 

She was walking down the street trying to think of how she could try to locate Richards when someone ran into her. She'd seen them coming, but they tripped and she was quick enough to keep them from hitting the pavement, but not quick enough to miss them entirely. 

"Sorry," he said, straightening. The first thing she noticed was the embarrassed blush rapidly rising in his cheeks. The second thing she noticed was that this guy looked a hell of a lot like Steve. 

"It's fine." 

"You alright, Steve?" 

"Yeah, 'm fine, Buck." 

Natasha glanced at the new arrival, then did a double take. Bucky Barnes was, in any universe, something incredible, but this was a new feature Natasha hadn't anticipated. 

"Thanks for catchin' 'im," Bucky said with a smile. 

"No problem. I'm Natalie," she said, holding out her hand. 

"Bucky, and this idiot's Steve." 

"'m not  _ that _ bad. I'm gonna be late if I don't get goin'. Thanks for catching me, Miss, and I'm sorry about runnin' into ya like that," Steve said, and then he was off running again. He was going to run into at least one person at this rate. 

"Is he running away from you?" Natasha asked, and Bucky's mouth twisted. 

"Guess so. Thinks he can stop me from doin' the same stupid shit he does." 

"Hm. You should double down." 

"What?" 

Natasha met his eyes. His hair was so damn long right now. He hadn't bothered to style it at all, and it was clear he'd gone for the baggiest shirt he could find. This wasn't the Bucky she was used to. Hydra had decided that breasts would get in the way on their precious Winter Soldier. They'd given him hormone therapy without asking, and when Bucky had finally come out of it, he'd been pissed off that they'd changed his body without his consent. That he liked the changes only made it worse. "You want to follow him. He's trying to get in the army, isn't he? I saw the forms." 

"Yeah." Bucky kicked at the ground. This was almost certainly an alternate universe and not time travel, but what would be the harm if she was wrong? This Bucky could use a pep talk. "They only let women in as nurses. I can't do that." 

"Cut your hair." 

Bucky's eyes darted up to meet hers. 

"Drop your voice. Cover up what you can." 

"I did somethin' like that before. Made it all the way through sniper basics 'fore they figured me out." 

"Sniper?" 

Bucky nodded. "Did pretty well. Top of the class, or I was before they tossed me." 

"So what? You're going to give up?" She knew that he wouldn't. There was steel in his eyes, strong enough to match the arm he'd end up getting. "If you commit to it, you could get in." 

"You sound pretty sure of that, Natalie." He thought that she was with SHIELD. He didn't know them yet, and he likely didn't know what he was getting at, but that's what he thought. The American military was doing a dozen different recruiting tactics right now. Agent Carter was proof that times weren't what they used to be. If Bucky could spotted by the right person, he'd be able to make it all the way. 

Natasha quirked her lips. "Let's just say that I am." She glanced over her shoulder to help sell the idea he'd gotten into his head. "I'd follow your friend Steve. Just in case." She pat his shoulder and started walking again. 

It was half an hour before she got pulled back to the proper dimension-- or time, she still wasn't sure how that worked-- and she hadn't seen a hint of Bucky again after she walked away. He’d land on his feet, though. He always did. 


End file.
